The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a megabill seeking to enact much of President Donald Trump’s domestic policy agenda, could cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid for low income Alabamians, according to experts, while also placing a higher onus on the state to fund these programs.

The bill, which has passed the U.S. House of Representatives but is yet to be approved by the U.S. Senate, proposes federal funding restrictions to both SNAP and Medicaid by changing funding structures, work eligibility requirements and removing federal incentives for both programs.

Historically, SNAP funding has been shared between states and the federal government, with states covering 50% of the administrative costs of SNAP. However, under the proposed legislation, Alabama’s share of administrative costs would rise to 75% according to Carol Gundlach, a policy analyst with Alabama Arise—a statewide organization that works to combat poverty in Alabama. 

Additionally, the bill aims to shift funding for SNAP benefits themselves to states. Currently, the cost of SNAP benefits is completely federally funded. Under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” Alabama would have to cover roughly 15% of SNAP benefit costs according to Gundlach, which would amount to at least $254 million annually. 

The proposed bill also would add a work requirement for parents with children over the age of 6—there is currently no SNAP work requirement for parents with dependent children—and prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture from recalculating the base amount of SNAP benefits, causing discrepancies between offered benefits and food costs.

Meanwhile, the bill’s proposed cuts to federal Medicaid spending could cost Alabama $3 billion over 10 years for Medicaid, according to Debbie Smith, director of Alabama Arise’s Cover Alabama campaign, a nonpartisan coalition seeking to expand Medicaid coverage in the state.

Similar to proposed changes to SNAP benefits, the bill proposes increasing work requirements to be eligible for Medicaid benefits to 80-hours per month for able-bodied Medicaid recipients aged 19 to 64 who don’t have dependents.

The bill would also remove a federal incentive that encourages states to expand Medicaid coverage, end open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act a month earlier and require more frequent eligibility checks for recipients.

Alabama Arise projects that, if the bill is passed, 53,000 people could lose their Medicaid coverage. In tandem with the potential expiration of some enhanced federal subsidies for the American Care Act marketplace, an estimated 170,000 Alabamians could lose their health insurance coverage causing the cost of uncompensated care in the state to rise to more than $592 million, according to analysis from the Center for American Progress.  

As of May 2025, more than 1 million people are enrolled in Medicaid in Alabama, according to KFF, an independent nonprofit focused on researching health care issues. More than half of the state’s Medicaid enrollees are children, and more than a quarter of Alabama enrollees live in rural areas.

Alabama top stories in brief 

First meeting of Alabama Reentry Task Force convened

• The Alabama Reentry Task Force held its first meeting on June 3, following a resolution by the state Legislature forming the group to implement recommendations from a report created by the Reentry Alabama Commission. 

• The task force, which is composed of elected officials and criminal justice reform experts, are working to reduce recidivism rates for formerly incarcerated individuals by reviewing reentry issues and other barriers these individuals may face after completing their sentences.
• “The only way you are ever going to truly reduce recidivism is to provide the full body of services,” said Cam Ward, chair of the Task Force and director of the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, told Alabama Reflector following the meeting.

Ivey appoints new members to restructured state veterans’ board

• Gov. Kay Ivey appointed 11 new members to the Alabama State Board of Veterans Affairs, the first new members added to the board since the restructuring that gave the governor more control over the board.

• SB 67, passed in March, restructured the Alabama Department of Veteran affairs. The bill removed the legislature’s power to enact policies and rules for the department, moving this power to the governor’s office, in addition to giving the governor the power to appoint the agency’s commissioner.

• These changes came after tension between Ivey and the board last fall. Ivey fired former commissioner Kent Davis, alleging mismanagement of federal grants. However, Davis refused to resign and former board members voted to keep him in his post, saying there was no evidence of wrongdoing. Davis eventually resigned.

• Four board members kept their positions on the new board.

Former AL Supreme Court justice announces AG run

• Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell has announced his campaign for Alabama attorney general.

• Mitchell, a Republican, served on the Alabama Supreme Court from 2019 until he resigned in May.

• On the Supreme Court, Mitchell wrote the controversial majority opinion ruling that said frozen embryos are children, which caused several in-vitro fertilization providers in the state to pause treatments due to a 2018 state constitutional amendment that required the state to “ensure the protection of the rights of the unborn child.” 

• In a campaign launch video, Mitchell described himself as a “law and order conservative with the guts to protect our Constitution.”

New Public Service Commission president appointed 

• State Rep. Cynthia Almond, R-Tuscaloosa, was appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday as the new president of the Alabama Public Service Commission.

• Almond is filling a vacancy left by Twinkle Cavanaugh, who was appointed U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Alabama director of rural development by the Trump administration. 

• The Public Service Commission oversees the statewide regulation of public utilities. The three-member board has long received criticisms of being too passive to the companies it oversees, especially Alabama Power.  

Alabama-based fishing group allegedly awarded bad checks to tournament winners

• American Bass Anglers, a company based out of Athens that hosts fishing tournaments, has been named in two separate legal complaints that claim that fishermen are still waiting on winning payouts for a fishing tournament the company hosted more than a month ago.

• Two fishermen, Rick Bradley of Florida and Chad Ardis of South Carolina, competed in the American Bass Anglers’ Military Team Bass Tournament and won, but are yet to receive roughly $2,400 in combined payments, according to the complaints.

• Georgia attorney Joe Durham, who is representing the fishermen in the case, has also said that has heard from more than 40 other fishermen who say they’ve received bad checks from American Bass Anglers for tournament payouts.

Federal lawsuit filed against Chambers County BOE

• The American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama has filed a federal lawsuit against the Chambers County Board of Education. The ACLU has filed the lawsuit on behalf of two teachers who were wrongly arrested at Chambers County BOE meeting in 2023. 

• The two teachers, Yolanda Ratchford and Tytianna Smith, were arrested after holding letter-sized papers featuring a picture of civil rights leader and U.S. lawmaker John Lewis with the words “Good Trouble” on them.

• The teachers were participating in a silent protest opposing Chamber County BOE’s plan to consolidate the county’s two high schools into one new facility in the predominantly white city of Valley—displacing Black students and educators from LaFayette.

• A judge previously ruled that the pair are not guilty of disorderly conduct. 

• The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, aims to get compensation for the harm faced while in police custody, saying that Ratchford, who is wheelchair bound, was not given access to an accessible toilet while in police custody.

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